1. Field of the Invention
If a data economy or free market for data is to be a practical possibility, users of data supply chains or federated data sources using capabilities of the Internet or the emerging capability of distributed computing across multiple devices or the utilization of “cloud” housed computing resources must be able to establish pricing schemata or monetization procedures that go beyond fees for exchange of data alone and fold in pricing for all aspects of the data exchange process.
The concept of pricing for transactions is not a new idea, but it has not been applied systematically to a market for data transfer, utilization, and exchange and particularly to user interactions with graphical user interfaces through which choices and server actions and events that would be involved in such exchanges is part of the pricing formulation. Granularity in pricing and multiple ways for considering or shaping pricing can be implemented through retaining and classifying user interactions with graphical user interface that accesses a data source or a data supply chain. Systems and methods for achieving this have not been fully explicated. It is the purpose of this patent to define a system and method to include aspects of the data exchange process that have not been used to price data exchange and to make such pricing flexible and configurable.
Current methods for calculation of prices focus on either the data source itself or the number of data objects that are drawn down from the data source, or both. While these are an essential component of a pricing schema, there are more systems and methods to configure pricing for a data supply chain or a federated data source.
It has been common practice in data source management to create and store a record of interactions with the data source. These logs of transactions are essential for retaining good histories and insuring versioning integrity of data sources. A few processes, such as Amazon.com will calculate and accumulate counts of interactions with a data source to include into pricing schema. Even more rare is calculation and retention of counts of interactions with graphical user interfaces for the purpose of building pricing schemata. The number of times a data object is accessed in the course of its inclusion within a data supply chain or federated data source, its “popularity” has not yet been included into a pricing schema. Pricing and ranking key words offers an analogous intent for pricing and ranking, but the system and method are entirely different.
A standard calculator is an example of a graphical user interface where the user selects a series of digits and mathematical operators to enter into a calculation. Each one of these interactions can be recorded and counted and used to generate a tally and apply a fee or cost per volume of interactions by a user with the calculator. Expanding from the example of interactions with a calculator to one or a plurality of interactions with a graphical user interfaces yields a good analogy of the mechanisms for the system and method described herein.
Calculators are often divided into declarative or button operated (imperative) types. Electronic spreadsheets are an example of data sources that commonly use declarative calculators because users will sometimes want to use results of calculations to instruct a computer to perform specific user defined actions upon the data source. Declarative calculators allow for more complex sets of instructions to be entered as well as obviate the sequences of the calculations. Button based calculators are also sometimes called “imperative” calculators because they execute actions immediately upon the values being entered into them as an operator is selected. When button based calculators are provided with computer readable code in software applications, they are usually external to a data source and applied to simple mathematical operations where a user enters or copies and pastes a value or a plurality of values into the calculator interface. Hybrid calculators use declarative as well as button driven graphical user interfaces (GUI's). The system and method described herein enables the use of a graphical user interface (GUI) that combines features and capabilities of declarative and imperative calculators.
Macros and other snippets of computer readable code are also commonly included as part of the processing capability within a data source. These macros will often initiate further actions through forward chaining or backward chaining within a data source upon attainment of a trigger value or a threshold derived from computations of formulae as these interact with changes in fields or data objects within a data source. The user will create the macro and will usually run it manually and sometimes run it upon a schedule. Less common, though not unusual, are macros that run automatically upon attainment of a trigger condition or threshold. Microsoft Corporation and other large software companies have developed suites of computer software applications like Microsoft Office that often include an ability to initiate actions and operations internal to the suite of applications. Less common is the ability to initiate actions or operations external to a suite of applications, though these do exist. These are, however, universally tied into a single data source structure and configuration and often require a user to have a license for the data structure or the data source. An additional constraint for these is that they are often integral to the architecture of the application code which facilitates a particular business process that interfaces with a particular data source.
The system and method described herein may be embodied in variants decoupled from a single data source. It also may be decoupled from particular business processes and made available to multiple business processes with no decrease in utility or applicability. In cases where the embodiment is decoupled from a single data source, it can be implemented upon any data source associated with a data supply chain.
Some computer software applications, often in the statistical and mathematical arena, (such as SPSS or SAS) will offer several variants or extensions of computer readable code to enable users to link their own formulae into an application and thus produce values that might trigger further operations. These are often unwieldy and require extensive knowledge of computer coding or knowledge of the specific software application and design. These links to formulae or the values produced by them are often posted as menu choices within sub-menus of these applications. A universal graphical user interface (GUI) for creating and building macros for any variant of an electronic spreadsheet or other data source has not been available. Embodiments of this system and method do not have to be wrapped into the architecture or computer readable code of particular software applications because the system and method is universally applicable to any data source.
Business intelligence software applications such as Business Objects or Cognos separate the calculation process from real time data creation and federation. In effect, they build a calculation layer on top of a data source or a set of data sources. These computer applications do not include pricing schemata because they assume the user of the software applications is also the owner of the data source. There is, however an advantage to linking data accumulated into a data supply chain to the pricing of server actions in real time. The advantage of the capability to price data accumulation together with actions upon the data in real time becomes especially apparent when the data is from disparate sources or owners. A seamless automated process that enables automated payment of fees for access to data or use of data or products or reports derived from data facilitates a market for data exchange. Embodiments of this system and method enable the linking of data accumulation and actions upon accumulated data to generate real time pricing and monetization of transactions involving data exchange.
A GUI that functions with similar ease and flexibility of a social networking site will reduce fragmentation of research, encourage data exchange, and enable measures of the number of times a data field is accessed. Absent an architecture for configuring interaction of a GUI with a data source, the vast variation of forms and formats and operating systems will remain a difficult barrier for the building of data supply chains. Overcoming this barrier will reduce the wasteful need for software engineers and information technology consultants to create one-off applications or integrations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data sources, such as spreadsheets and databases enable users to build an almost unlimited number of formulae associated with cells or fields within them. There are many variations for creating formulae. The most common is the use of a calculator interface or GUI. However, a formula entered into a cell or a field (also often referred to as a data object) within a data source is isolated from a business process. Merely posting a value into a data object or a field or cell within a spreadsheet does not significantly advance a business process. It is when that value is evaluated for whether it meets a threshold condition or a trigger condition for additional server actions that a business process is enriched. The current art teaches that values that may trigger an event or action can be copied from data fields and posted into computer readable code to initiate actions by the server housing the data source. [Smith (U.S. Pat. No. 7,860,760)]
In the case of this invention; the user constructs the formulae and sets values and counts computed by the formulae or through interaction with the GUI to determine pricing. Each spreadsheet cell or data source field or object can be associated with one or more formulae that are associated with one or more data fields and operands and additional instructions and actions to be used to produce values and counts to use to calculate a fee per data field accessed, to set thresholds for trigger conditions, and to initiate actions by the server. In addition, counts of the number of polls or accesses of a data object within a data supply chain or federated data source can be used as part of the value determination of the data object and the information it references to users of the data supply chain or federated data source. The user may also be provided an option to approve or acknowledge the price for server initiated actions prior to the initiation of those actions by the server.
There is a need for alternative methods to manage costs for reporting that include consideration of server processing time and costs for development of computer readable code while being sure data delivered to a user or to surrogates of the user through server actions is usable and appropriate for their unique knowledge management or business intelligence needs. We have coined the term “data accounting” to help those with fiduciary roles or interests within businesses or organizations to view the management of their data as a resource subject to pricing, to scheduling, to planning, and to quality control. This method will reduce the user's risk of getting the wrong data or unstructured data or insufficient data or too much data or data routed to inappropriate recipients from a data source.
A vendor of server time and computer readable code is similarly assured that they will be compensated for the use of their back-end data sources, including the popularity and implied market value of their data along with their computer readable code. Fees for computer readable code to capture data and report it; the cost of websites and other infrastructure to house data sources and provide users with access to them are in direct proportion to which fields the user or the server draws down or acts upon in a data source or a plurality of data sources. Notification of the user of the cost for the data report or other server event or action prior to generation and dispersion of the report or the initiation of the server event or action also helps the user vet the utility of the information and therefore supports a win-win relationship with the vendor.
Traditional web portals and local area networks do allow users to specify customized reports through configuration profiles. They do not enable a method and system for data accounting to be associated with data fields wherein policies systems and methods for events and actions and reporting upon the achievement of a threshold or trigger value is included in the price for the server event or action or report to be provided on the fly by values assigned to the data object or field. Neither do they fold in notification to the end user of a report or server event or action of actual utilization of all aspects of the data supply chain for the user to consider as part of the justification for the price or value of the transaction.
Systems and methods for combining graphical user interfaces with pricing calculations are in their infancy. O'Connor (U.S. Pat. No. 7,805,356) teaches a system and method using a graphical user interface for posting offer and buy prices from a data source along vectors for a user to determine an offer price. The intent of the method is to enable a user to make decisions about the purchase of financial instruments or stocks, using the graphical interface as a presentation tool to enhance the interpretation of the values in play. This is common to many of the system and method patents for graphical user interfaces, where the purpose and function of the interface is to use a pictorial or graphic construct to enhance user understanding and ability to interpret information. The system and method described herein is focused on the intersection of the image on the screen with the sequencing and ordering of pricing and other decisions in regard to implementation of a data supply chain. The graphics themselves are not included or involved in the patent. The tracking and storing and pricing of user interactions with the graphical user interface is the pivotal new art within this patent application.
Avery (U.S. Pat. No. 7,676,423) teaches a different approach to a system and method by focusing on the use of a graphical interface for making reservations through establishing the sequences and steps undertaken by a user. The methods and system used by Avery (U.S. Pat. No. 7,676,423) differs vastly from the calculation and count focus of the system and method of this patent, but shares a similar focus on sequencing and guiding user behaviors.
Bauchot (U.S. Pat. No. 7,272,783) teaches a method for storing a user options table with a spreadsheet that “comprises a user option index, a name of a corresponding user option associated with the record, and a status value of the corresponding user option associated with the record.” At first glance the term “value” for the corresponding user might indicate an association with pricing, but it does not; it simply indicates the retention of the “value” or information on the status of the choice made for actions upon records. While the system and method described herein also stores statuses and choices made by users (as do many programs with computer readable code) we do not do so only within the same spreadsheet we are accessing, but also within a table or data source that is part of a federated data source or a part of the data supply chain.
Cseri (U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,623) teaches a method for linking user interface objects to other objects through user interface objects associated with a single event or a plurality of events and chaining an additional series of events to changes in properties of one or more of the linked events. In effect, Cseri (U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,623) also is building triggers, though these are based on a series of display and other properties and propagated to linked fields on the same server in a similar fashion to synchronization routines. Cseri (U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,623) does not teach cross-server linkages or updates, not does Cseri (U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,623) deal with pricing for events.
Hazzard (U.S. Pat. No. 7,756,737) is one of the few patents teaching pricing calculation in regard to usage levels and user and server events. However, Hazzard (U.S. Pat. No. 7,756,737) does not address data, but use of enterprise software and support services related to software.